Riders of the 62-mile route of the Community Classic Bike Tour started at McKee Medical Center early Sunday morning, headed west up and around Carter Lake, moved north toward Fort Collins and traversed Horsetooth Reservoir before returning to Loveland via the bike trail around Boyd Lake. (Jessica Benes)

One Loveland man, Mike Zuhlke, suffered minor injuries after taking a fall coming down a steep decline on the north side of Carter Lake during the Community Classic Bike Tour on Sunday.

“My bike speedometer said I was going 48.4 mph,” he said. “I'm a pretty experienced rider; I race bikes, but there were so many people. At that speed going down, you can't really brake or you will wobble.”

Zuhlke said that he was gaining on a couple bikers in front of him as they headed down the hill and around a turn. He yelled “On your left,” to them but they misunderstood and moved left. He tried to correct and move around them on the right but they were going so fast that he said it was either wipe them out or go down himself.

“There was no way to make the turn (to the left),” he said, so he went straight onto a dirt shoulder, hit a bump, twisted to the right like he has learned to do in a tuck-and-roll motion ... and that's all he remembers. “I knew I was going to go over the handlebars,” he said.

The next thing he remembers is waking up when the ambulance arrived. He was taken to McKee Medical Center, where the ride had begun at 6:30 a.m.

“I finished the ride, but not the way I wanted to,” he said.

Hospital personnel asked him questions to check his memory, ran tests for internal injuries or broken bones, and released him about two hours later. Nothing was broken. He didn't have any head injuries.

He said his family was upset with him for being more concerned about his bike than himself.

He said that the seat post broke and the handlebars were torn up, but that the bike is salvageable and can be repaired.

Zuhlke said that one of the tour directors came and talked to his wife and made sure he was OK. “I appreciate that,” he said. "I just want to thank everyone that helped me.”

Zuhlke races in triathlons, road races and mountain bike races.

Dawn Paepke with the McKee Medical Center Community Foundation said that about 1,300 riders rode in the four available routes -- 10, 32, 37 and 62 miles -- and that more than $84,000 was raised for Stepping Stones Adult Day Care program and its move to a new facility in downtown Loveland.

Over 200 volunteers assisted on the course, put out snacks and water at aid station and worked before and after the ride at tents set up at McKee Medical Center.